The beginnings of Native American pottery can be traced back thousands of years when coil and slab-built vessels, along with pinch-pots, were made for functional purposes. Over time, pottery became colorful and laden with design and imagery depicting natural elements and traditional scenery. This section dedicated to pottery provides further insight into the history of pottery, and is a guide of available works by noteworthy Native American artists and galleries who’ve acquired significant pieces. Make sure to not only admire the beautiful designs, colors, shapes and forms, but also breathe in the rich heritage of earth and fire passed down from generations.
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Adobe Gallery
This large storage jar with leather reinforcements most likely dates to the last quarter of the 19th century. The potter chose to display three very large rosette designs and two starburst designs on the jar’s exterior. The rosette was a design favored by Spanish and Spanish-American craftsmen for use on furniture. During this jar’s time at the Pueblo, its rim was cracked. Strips of leather were put in place to provide stability, allowing the jar to continue serving its purpose. This is an exceptional example of historic Pueblo pottery.
221 Canyon Road » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 955-0550 » info@adobegallery.com » www.adobegallery.com
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C & D Gifts Native American Art
This 10¼-by-12-inch piece is a hand-coiled large olla with fertility designs and parrots painted around it by award-winning Acoma potter Franklin Peters. It also has three medallions representing a woman’s womb, with rain patterns, raindrops, eagle tails, thunderbirds and clouds. The walls are very thin and the painting and precision is amazing. In addition, it has a spirit break at the rim. This would make a great centerpiece for any collection.
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Heard Museum Shop
Traditional Acoma potter Delores Juanico uses time-honored materials and techniques to produce pottery with the thinnest of walls and magnificently painted designs, such as in this 5-by-5-inch contemporary pot. She specializes in recreating design elements of the 19th century, and puts the date of the original pattern on the bottom of the piece. This one is dated 1870.
2301 N. Central Avenue » Phoenix, AZ 85004 » (602) 346-8190 » www.heardmuseumshop.com
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Jack’s Antique
This elaborately decorated pot by Hopi-Tewa artist Antoinette Honie, is hand-coiled, hand-decorated, hand-polished and pit-fired. This pot is full of symbols representing clouds, rain, parrot tail feathers, steps and scrolls in black and red pigments on buff background. This item was acquired from the private collection of a long-time Flagstaff resident.
4650 N. US Hwy 89 Suite G014 » Flagstaff, AZ 86004 » (928) 526-0696 » jack@jacksantique.com » www.jacksantique.com
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King Galleries
Les Namingha (Hopi-Tewa/Zuni), is a descendant of Nampeyo of Hano and learned to make pottery from his aunt, Dextra Quotskuyva. Namingha’s pottery is coil built but he paints on the surface with acrylic after firing. His designs are inspired by traditional Hopi-Tewa pottery, as well as his own life experiences. He often layers these designs on the surface of his pottery, creating visual stories.
130 Lincoln Avenue D » Santa Fe, NM 87507 » www.kinggalleries.com
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Native American Collections
This 6¼-inch plate by Russell Sanchez (San Ildefonso), is inspired by the work of Florentino Montoya (1858-1918), who was an exceptional potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo. Russell rotates the colors and images on the piece and uses many of the same natural clays that were used when polychrome painted pottery was being made in the Pueblo in the 1880’s. The white-slipped center shows a flower image. The individual red dots beneath the embedded, fine turquoise heishi shell represent rain drops. Just outside of that, the checkerboard of alternating black polished and matte squares symbolize corn. The highly-polished, deep red edge of the plate with repeating dots completes the border of this beautiful piece.
Denver, CO » (303) 321-1071 » jill@nativepots.com » www.nativepots.com
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Miles and Miles Trading
This lovely piece of pottery named Fox Handle Bowl is by Santa Clara potter Raycita B. Caden (1927-2012), and was awarded a third-place ribbon at the 1988 SWAIA Annual Indian Market in Santa Fe. Caden’s pottery was complex and she was most known for her technique using old traditional styles— stone carving, polishing and firing. Caden was the daughter of Pasqualita Baca and niece of Nestora Silva. The dimensions from the top of the ear is 11 inches, and the widest diameter is 10 inches.
San Francisco, CA » (415) 519-7797 » www.milesnativearts.com
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Ancient Nations Indigenous Art
This vessel titled Rose Among Thorns, by Lisa Holt (Cochiti Pueblo) and Harlan Reano (Santo Domingo/Kewa Pueblo), measures 8½ inches high and 8 inches in diameter. Holt is the granddaughter of potter Seferina Ortiz (1931-2007), who was her mentor. She also learned from her mother, Juanita Inez Ortiz, and her uncle, Virgil Ortiz. Harlan, from the Kewa Pueblo (formally known as Santo Domingo), also learned potting from his mother-in-law, Juanita Inez Ortiz. Together, these two artists continue to innovate and explore new themes in Pueblo pottery. They have won numerous awards and are featured in many important collections.
1-(800) 854-1359 » www.ancientnations.com
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Sandbar Trading Gallery & Auction
Multiple award winner Cavan Gonzalez is from a family of noteworthy potters: the son of Barbara Gonzalez and great, great grandson of Maria and Julian Martinez, and many other's of significiant talent. This 14¼-inch plate is signed Cavan Gonzalez “Eagle Tail,” and is in the four-directions motif. Plates themselves are a “collector category” and the size of this piece , along with the lineage, make it a nice piece to own.
Wichita, KS » (316) 655-7477 » rick@sandbartrading.com » www.sandbartrading.com
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Raven Makes Gallery
Centuries ago, in the Pueblos of North America, large pots were necessary for storing significant amounts of water. Today, artisan water vessels typically fit collector’s available display space. Anderson Peynetsa (Zuni), his work seen here, has created a work on a scale that more accurately represents the time when pottery was about functionality, first and foremost. Yet, Peynetsa has embellished it with the exacting standard of design, detail and beauty for which his smaller works are so well known and collected. When the gallery acquired the work, he stated, “It’s the largest duck I’ve ever done. Don’t think I’ll attempt it again!”
182 E. Hood Avenue » Sisters, OR 97759
(541) 719-1182 » www.ravenmakesgallery.com
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The Rainbow Man
This excerpt about Helen Cordero (1915-1994), is from the book Clay Mirror: “Helen first made figures of birds and animals and then started making ‘little people’ (standing male and female figures) and singing mothers. In 1964, with the encouragement of designer and folk-art collector Alexander Girard, she began making larger figures she called ‘storytellers’… Of these figures Helen said, ‘His eyes are closed because he’s thinking; his mouth is open because he’s telling stories.’” The storyteller pictured here, offered at the Rainbow Man shop, is of Cordero’s 1970’s classic era.
107 E. Palace Avenue » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 982-8706 » www.rainbowman.com
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Nizhoni Ranch Gallery
Ruby Panana (Zia Pueblo) has been creating stunning pottery since 1983, and her pottery began winning awards from the very first time it was exhibited. Panana’s work encompasses many forms from jars, bowls, vases, wedding vases and even canteens. She produces some of the largest Zia pottery pieces, such as this 10½-by-11-inch Zia Pueblo olla pot pictured here. Besides Nizhoni Ranch Gallery, Panana’s gorgeous works are on exhibit in noted Southwest galleries: the Indian Craft Shop, the Museum of Northern Arizona, and the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. You can also find her pottery in major collections, including the Wright Museum at Harvard.
Sonoita, AZ » (520) 455-5020 » nizhoniranch@gmail.com » www.navajorug.com
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The Dancing Rabbit Gallery
Erik Fender’s work displays high-level skills in both traditional and innovative techniques and designs. He continues to create the highest quality traditionally made Native American pottery, recently winning five ribbons at the 2021 Heard Indian Show in Phoenix, Arizona. This jar is highly polished black ware with the flat black matte slip on the lower body consisting of designs of feathers and other geometric symbols. The rim of the vessel is accented with hand placed turquoise cabochons set in straight sterling silver bezels. Fender has tufa cast this lid with careful precision, with accents of raindrops and geometric lines. As with the jar, there are four turquoise cabochons set with straight bezels to correspond with the stones on the rim of the pot. The top is finished with three inverted triangles.
(505) 850-2212 » www.thedancingrabbitgallery.com
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Natasha Smoke Santiago
Pictured here is Bean Mama, a traditional hand-built, Mohawk-styled piece of pottery by Natasha Smoke Santiago (Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), depicting one of the “Three Sisters” (Corn, Bean, Squash). The design of Bean Mama shows her beauty as a blossoming mother. “As an heirloom seed keeper myself,” says Santiago, “this pot holds special meaning to me, of sharing the joy and love of future generations in all their beauty.” Santiago is known for her creations of traditional, hand-built Mohawk pottery, contemporary hand-built pottery pieces, sculpture work, as well as clay tobacco pipes.
(518) 521-5230 » natasha@storytellershouse.com
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